Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Sells 15,602 Shares of Moody's Corporation $MCO

Key Points

• Marks Group Wealth Management cut its Moody’s stake by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 15,602 shares and ending with 10,989 shares valued at about $5.61 million.
• Moody’s reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $4.33, though revenue of $2.08 billion came in slightly below estimates. The company also raised its FY 2026 EPS guidance to 16.40–17.00.
• Despite a recent 1.6% share decline, analysts remain broadly positive: the stock has a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $544.29, and the company continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $1.03 per share.

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc cut its stake in Moody's Corporation (NYSE:MCO - Free Report) by 58.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,989 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,602 shares during the period. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings in Moody's were worth $5,614,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $1,097,101,000. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in shares of Moody's during the 4th quarter worth about $395,096,000. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 1,222.0% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 324,251 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $154,499,000 after acquiring an additional 299,724 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 283,744 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $135,198,000 after acquiring an additional 219,251 shares during the period. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Moody's by 10,311.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 197,826 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $94,260,000 after acquiring an additional 195,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.11% of the company's stock.

Moody's Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of MCO stock opened at $444.02 on Tuesday. Moody's Corporation has a 12-month low of $402.28 and a 12-month high of $546.88. The company has a market capitalization of $77.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $447.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $470.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Moody's (NYSE:MCO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The business services provider reported $4.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.22 by $0.11. Moody's had a net margin of 31.69% and a return on equity of 70.97%. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.83 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Moody's has set its FY 2026 guidance at 16.400-17.000 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Moody's Corporation will post 16.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Moody's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.03 per share. This represents a $4.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Moody's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCO. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Moody's from $580.00 to $550.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Moody's from $560.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $531.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $535.00 price objective on shares of Moody's in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Moody's in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $544.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert Fauber sold 1,467 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.39, for a total transaction of $684,194.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 75,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,067,397.71. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Richard G. Steele sold 158 shares of Moody's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.67, for a total transaction of $71,679.86. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $900,534.95. This represents a 7.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 4,717 shares of company stock valued at $2,137,306 over the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Moody's

Moody's Corporation is a global provider of credit ratings, research, data and analytics that support financial decision-making and transparency in capital markets. The company traces its origins to the early 20th century when financial analyst John Moody began publishing credit information; today Moody's is headquartered in New York and serves a broad set of market participants including investors, issuers, financial institutions, corporations, governments and regulators.

Moody's operates primarily through two complementary businesses.

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